The Greatest Player I never saw

Obnoxious John

6/20/10

On this Father’s Day I’m reminded of my dad’s favorite player. Dad would tell me how he thought this player was the best he’d ever seen. How the player had the skill to hit like a machine, his ability seemed almost magical in placing the bat squarely on the ball.

He never talked much about the guy’s defensive skills. He was such a great hitter he could take the field with a bushel basket on the end of his arm and no one would care.  Most unusual of all to me about this selection, is the player wasn’t a Tiger.

My Dad grew up in Detroit and during his childhood the Tigers went to the World Series 4 times. It’s not like he lacked for players to admire and some of those guys no doubt make someone else’s list as a favorite player.

For example, Detroit had a marvelous Hall of Fame second baseman while Dad was growing up; Charley Gehringer. Nicknamed the “Mechanical Man” because of his near flawless execution, he led the league 6 times in Fielding Percentage, 7 times in Assists at 2B, 3 of those times leading all infielders. Gehringer was also a superior hitter, having a great strikeout to at-bat ratio of 23.8. He struck out a grand total of 372 times, in his career! Some players do that today in a couple of seasons.  Also he had a lifetime batting average of .320 and a World Series average of .321. And don’t get me started on Tiger first baseman Hank Greenberg. But neither of these players and other Tigers who played in that era were my Dad’s favorite player.

This of course was before television so no ESPN to rerun highlights of games and individual plays. No Internet *GASP*, to spread information quicker than a mosquito finding you on a camping trip, no cell phone, IPOD or Blackberrys.

I’m not sure why this player was his favorite. Maybe because Dad saw him perform in the player’s home park. When Dad was in the service, after the war, he was stationed where he could see a game and get a feel for how well he did against teams other than Detroit.

Or maybe this player is my Dad’s favorite because of what he didn’t do.

He didn’t play during the war. 3 years in what was the prime of his career spent in the service, freeing the world from the growing tentacles of fascism. I’m talking about the Splendid Splinter, the Kid, that marvelous hitter from San Diego, Ted Williams.

Ted also lost, more or less, two seasons to the Korean Conflict. Assuming his home run totals would have been in line with his track record, you could arguably have added 150 more home runs to his totals.

Ted was still playing when I was a boy, but Dad and I never made it to old Briggs Stadium to see him perform. That’s allright though. If he was good enough for my Dad, he was good enough for me. Happy Fathers Day Dad!

Now get out there and take one for the team!